I agree with Rott, however now the City is involved in the dispute. If you give the city officials who visit you enough ammunition to educate the people they report to re: their own municipal standards for composting, it will most likely take care of the problem if you following the composting guidelines. You don't want to make a "lid" however, if you simply lay another pallet on top, both light and water will get in the bin and screen it a bit and still create good compost. It's a thought. I don't know the height of your homes, or your restrictions for screening, but you could consider planting a cheap hedge. My immediate neighbors party 24/7 on the front lawn with about 20 other men. Day and night. Not too loud but whenever I go outside they are all there staring at me,cat calls and other rudeness. Nothing can be done except HEDGE. I can't wait until it's cool enough to plant a very fast growing hedge, since I can not install a tall fence in that area. My property is very large for an urban property and my front yard equals the width of 3 normal small front yards. All of it is gardened - one purely veggies ringged in flowers, the other a potager and the third is mostly herbs (although looks like a flower garden). The garden has inspired 4 neighbors to remove lawns and plant gardens, and a 5th is planning on it this fall (out of 11 people on our end of the street besides us). Everyone loves it!

:-D IÂd be happy to share with you anyway  itÂs just cuttings for those three, though, so I donÂt know if youÂd want them. Forsythia is supposed to very easy to grow from cuttings. Re the worms...well, I donÂt know. Apparently, the ones that crawl up into our compost arenÂt the same ones that live in bins. The ones in the compost have underground burrows that they return to. They die in bins. The ones in bins are the ones the live right under the leaf litter, etc  near the surface. Well, except that Night Crawlers inhabit the bottom of the bin, so I donÂt know. TheyÂre epigeic worms, so you could ask to see their ID. I think that Kellie Snyder said that the ones that are red all around are red wigglers, and the ones that are pink on the bottom are imposters. Makes collecting them a bit of a challenge. HereÂs where I read about the poop bin: http://www.composters.com/docs/worms_p2.html We could just get one of those things you bury, but this would give us worm castings. Do you know about the things you bury? Probably easier, even if you donÂt get worm castings out of it! HereÂs one (scroll to Doggie Dooley): http://www.composters.com/docs/bins_p5.html#gm IÂve seen them anywhere from $25 - $150

Like Lisa, I'm wondering if there is more to the story too. In most cities, the 12" rule applies to lawn grasses and weeds, but not to anything grown in a cultivated bed that is well maintained...meaning it is kept weeded and mulched and clearly is a bed, and not a lawn interspersed with weeds. I cannot help thinking there is some part of this story we don't know. It probably didn't help that she already had a history of code violations, and that history likely means someone in Code Enforcement had a grudge against her and was not likely to cut her a break. Despite all I just said, I think this is a terrible thing that they did to her. I would understand why they cut the grass and anything in it that they believed to be "weeds" (not that I would agree with them doing it, but I understand they could justify that part of it as code enforcement) but I'll never understand why they cut down her trees. I agree with adellabedella that it is hard to understand that you couldn't have some sort of landscaping other than a lawn. I bet when the whole story comes out, we'll find out the missing piece, if there is one. Regardless, I hope she wins her lawsuit and they have to replace her plants. I never could live in a city again, and I certainly could not live in a housing subdivision with a Homeowners Association that has strict landscaping rules because I want to grow what I want to grow where I want to grow it. When you live out in an unincorporated area in a sparsely populated county, no one tells you what you can grow or how low you have to mow your grass or whatever. I like it that way. Lisa, You have a spectacularly beautiful yard and if Code Enforcement ever touches it, they'll have to deal with me! I'll come fight them on your behalf. Dawn

Well, sometimes it is difficult for folks to understand about aging. My dad has had a cell phone for years, but it is getting harder and harder for him to use it, due to palsy in his hands and the low light, small print of it. Dad could get a bigger, "senior phone" but he's just not there mentally anymore. When he thinks about doing it he just doesn't feel positive about expending energy to do it. Old people who are not senile still get easily confused and mentally exhausted. That's what folks don't get. Can their brains function, sure, but they need to parse their energy, and spending time learning some new skill that they are very unlikely to need to use, is a waste of their time and their energy. I'm all about old folks trying to enjoy familiar things as long as possible, but they should not be stressed by lots of changes in routine or new procedures to learn. Meddler just doesn't get that, probably never will. My brother is exactly the same, he still talks about and treats my 85 year old father as if he were 55 and really riles when I tell him he's stressing dad out. He thinks I am full of it. Of course he lives across the ocean and is never there to pick up the pieces of dad's confusion and depression after he breezes in for one of his "visits." Whew, now my vent over! Just added this to let you know you are not alone in this boat!